Lamborghini Veneno lets its freak flag fly

LMP-car looks, vintage Lambo swagger, and hyper-exclusivity.

The details have leaked all over the place now, so here goes: This is the incredible Lamborghini Veneno.

The narrative going into Geneva has pretty much been that the show is about the McLaren P1 and Ferrari's answer to that in its Enzo successor. Yes, there are a ton of other cool cars hitting the floor tomorrow, but nothing that could possibly compete with those two. Right?

Lamborghini had other plans.

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Those plans manifest themselves in the form of the car you see here: the Veneno. Based on the Aventador chassis and powertrain, the Veneo sports carbon-fiber bodywork that makes the Avantador look like a wallflower. It is all the brashness, daring, and machismo that we've mentally associated Lamborghini with since the wall-poster-era Countach, the O.G. Alpha Male Supercar. Yes, Lamborghini's newer cars are its best ever, but one look at the Veneo confirms that it has that old-school, '80s-style gunslinging swagger. The car on display in Geneva wears its Italian bravado right on its sleeve, so to speak, in the form of the tricolor stripes running across the door. Oh and yes, it's named after a fighting bull.

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The Veneo's race-car-for-the-street design motif is no more evident than in the sail bisecting the back half of the car, from the roof inlet to the rear wing. Everything else is all creases, and flares, and vents, and gills, and diffusers, and downforce, and oh man...this is why we all go to auto shows, isn't it?

Lambo is only building three of these things to sell (the show car doesn't count—it's #0). Each is already spoken for, and each is wildly expensive at 3,000,000 Euros, or roughly $3.9 million dollars, before taxes. The Geneva show car is the only one with the tricolor accent on the door. The trio of customer cars each take one of the Italian national colors as an accent to unify the series while ensuring individual uniqueness. All three will be delivered in calendar year 2013.

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While the Veneo's muscle comes from the Aventador, the 6.5-liter V12 now dishes out 740 horsepower through the familiar seven-speed ISR gearbox and all-wheel-drive system. Lambo says the Veneno's top speed is 220 miles per hour. Fine with us.

So there you have it. Instead of being drowned out as background noise to McLaren and Ferrari, Lamborghini just shrugs and throws down its own gauntlet. Like Ferrucio did when he formed the company in the first place. This is fun.

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Be sure to follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram for as-it-happens coverage of the Veneno and the other Volkswagen Group unveilings later this afternoon.